Wide-ranging challenges have been brought about by the financial crisis on the European welfare state system，with abrupt mounting of unemplo ent rate in most of the EU countries，which in turn weakened the negotiating ability of the labour vis-a-vis the capital. In the meantime，the bailout plans further aggravated the burdens exerted on national governments’ budget，thus making more severe the pressures on the public finance of the welfare states. The negative effects produced by this situation on the social psychology of the Europeans cherishing profound reverence for justice has accentuated the anxiety and anger of the public at a variety of levels. However，in order to lessen the pressures on public expenditure，a number of countries were forced to continue their welfare reforms in the face of the public’s protests. Generally speaking，the welfare state system has played a positive role for the European countries to come through the financial crisis smoothly. But on the other hand，the long-term pressures for the welfare states to conduct further reforms have obviously been increased.